Grossmont High boys water polo coach Clint McLaughlin jokes that Foothillers senior Clay Wilson has never seen a shot that he doesn’t like to take.

“Oh, no,” Wilson retorts, “I take plenty of shots that I don’t like.”

In any case, there was definitely much to admire about Wilson’s back-to-back goals that closed out a 14-11 victory over Rancho Buena Vista in the San Diego Section Division I quarterfinals at La Jolla High’s Coggan Pool on Saturday.

In all, Wilson had seven goals as fourth-seeded Grossmont (24-5) advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1997 against No. 1 Carlsbad at the same site on Wednesday night.

This came after the Foothillers won the Grossmont Hills League title for their first outright league crown since 1995 and qualified for a top-four seed that gave them a rare opening-round bye in the playoffs.

“We were stoked because we won the league championship and then got that seed,” said Wilson, one of 11 seniors on the Grossmont roster. “We had to come out and win this game. So it’s all been exciting.”

While the Foothillers never trailed after jumping out to a 3-0 lead, No. 5 Rancho Buena Vista (19-12) presented a late threat by closing within 12-11 with 3:45 left. Wilson answered by scoring off a rebound and then converting a long-range shot to reaffirm control with 1:57 to go.

Julian Reisch added four goals and Jacob Vasquez two for Grossmont, which held an 8-5 halftime lead.

“Our boys have good chemistry and experience,” McLaughlin said. “At times we’ve been down, but we’ve found a little bit of energy to finish strong.”